The government's consolidated fund registered a deficit of €24.1 million between January and October, the National Statistics Office said. 

The government had a surplus of €4.3 million during the same period last year.

The main catalysts in the difference were increased outlays in both recurrent and capital expenditure, the NSO said.

A deficit of €3.1 million had been registered by the government’s consolidated fund between January and August, the NSO had reported. 

Government debt stood at €5,211 million, a €394 million decrease from the corresponding month last year. 

The NSO said this was the result of lower government stocks and foreign loans, which decreased by €635.6 million and €10.4 million respectively.

Total expenditure by the end of October stood at €3,520 million, an increase of €242.3 million or 7.4 per cent from 2017, the NSO said.

On the other hand, recurrent expenditure totaled €3,018.9 million - an increase of €159.9 million compared to the corresponding amount reported by the end of October 2017.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €175 million - a €6.7 million drop from the €181.7 million reported in 2017.

Government’s capital expenditure registered an increase of €89.1 million compared to the same period last year, and was recorded at €326.1 million.

The NSO said this was mainly the result of higher outlay on EU structural funds (€24.4 million), road construction and improvements (€23.9 million), EU cohesion funds 2014-2020 (€16.7 million), EU internal security funds (€8.7 million), EU European agricultural fund for rural development 2014-2020 (€6.7 million), investment incentives (€5.0 million) and national identity management systems (€3.1 million).